Annapolis updates website, will cost $73K over five years

Annapolis has updated its website with a new layout, fresh makeover and a plethora of new ways to get information on city meetings as well as share feedback and ideas with government officials. (Courtesy photo / HANDOUT)

Don't try to use Google or Yahoo! to find Annapolis city services online. It may not work.

The city has updated its website with a new layout, fresh makeover and a plethora of ways to get information on city meetings as well as share feedback and ideas with government officials.

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But the city's links on Google and other search engine results haven't carried over yet. So, searching the Stanton Community Center and clicking the resulting link will lead to an error page. Users need to navigate to the city's home page to find services.

The website will cost $73,250.77 over the next five years. The city selected CivicPlus, a Kansas-based company providing and building websites for local governments. The city received two bids. Details of the second bid, Denver-based technology company, Granicus, were not available Wednesday.

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Mayor Mike Pantelides said the cost is worth residents having more options.

With the update, residents can create accounts that house their profiles. City officials said this information is protected and allows users to customize their experience.

It also will allow the city to apply for more grants that require the city to meet certain technology standards, said Rhonda Wardlaw, city spokeswoman.

The website will allow users to customize their personal profiles based on their interest in city politics. By selecting the "My Dashboard" section, one can pick which "widgets" they want to add. Widget is a fancy way of saying "add a calendar" or "notify me" about this subject. Once the calendar is selected, it stays on the dashboard and can be found easily.

For example, a resident wants to keep up with the Crystal Spring project. They can select the Planning Commission calendar, which will place a calendar on the dashboard with links to the commission's meetings.

"Some people don't have the time to navigate this website," said Inna Young, Annapolis webmaster. "(Now) they have their own personalized mini website."

Other changes include an accessible list of city agencies and employees. Residents can search employees by name that brings up phone numbers and links to email addresses. There also is a live chat that will connect users with a city employee during the day.

It also has a "community voice" section, which can be accessed on the home page. This allows users to provide ideas directly to the city, Young said. Those ideas will go directly to the appropriate department with the city hoping to train employees to gather and oversee the incoming information.

Young is also aware of the site's hiccups, such as Google and other search engine links sending people to error pages. Not every aspect is up and working perfectly, but Young said she is responsive to emails and wants users to help her work the kinks out. The links should update on the search engines in a couple of weeks.

Some of the site's amenities weren't available, like its updated search engine, until it went live, so it needs testing, she said.